Milestones in inclusive, community-led coastal conservation
WWF’s Coastal Communities Initiative issues an impact report and a call to action.
By Maria Honig, CCI Lead
“We only protect what we love, we only love what we understand, and we only understand what we are taught.” — Jacques-Yves Cousteau
People who live near the sea and depend on it for their well-being are taught about it early in life. They understand its weather and seasons, they know when it is abundant and when it is suffering. WWF has worked with coastal communities for decades, learning from their rich relationship with the ocean. Together, we develop projects and programmes that help communities meet their aspirations while safeguarding the natural resources they rely on.
Since 2020, I have had the privilege of leading WWF’s Coastal Communities Initiative, and a new report looks back on what we’ve achieved together across 29 countries, working to strengthen governance, amplify voices, enhance resource access, support conservation, and integrate local solutions into policies.
“Scaling Toward a Healthy Ocean and Resilient Coastal Communities” provides new data on the positive impacts of inclusive conservation; the stories and case studies featured in the report showcase different facets of coastal community-led conservation, and exemplify locally-led solutions from the Coral Triangle, Mediterranean, Southwest Indian Ocean, Latin America, Pacific and Northern Indian Ocean. Across these diverse seascapes, we are demonstrating models that build ecological and community resilience, and lead to scalable impact at the regional and global levels.
Partnering with Coastal Communities: A Call to Action
The Coastal Communities Initiative isn’t just a strategy; it’s a rallying cry for change. Though the initiative includes more than 700 local and international partners, we share a common understanding that protecting coastal ecosystems and forging a path toward sustainability requires more than just talk — it demands action. We must become architects of transformation, leading a global movement that turns the tide on biodiversity loss and sparks a new era of community-led conservation. We must match the scale of our ambition with the magnitude of the challenges we face.
During a 2023 visit to Nusatuva, a community in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands, I spent three hours in the water during a community reef monitoring event, gaining firsthand experience of the “scaling deep” impact of reef monitoring and learning about its critical role in marine resource management. Swimming with two generations of both women and men community rangers and community facilitators, the motivation to safeguard those environments couldn’t be more palpable — and the proud realization of improving fish stocks, more certain.
Duncan Arthur, chairman of the Nusatuva Environment Conservation Development Association, shared how this inclusive form of self-governance has shifted the community: “We created a model where decisions are collectively made, ensuring inclusivity. The governance structure involves committees, community rangers, and facilitators, passing knowledge to the younger generation.”
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